Page 11 of Secrets and Ruin

“I’ll let my son, who absolutely won’t care, know he has lost esteem in your eyes.” Heath was trying not to laugh.

“You think Landon doesn’t care about her opinion?” Fenris did laugh, not bothering to hold back how funny he thought Heath’s statement was. “That fucking boy would die for her. He cares more for her opinion than he ever did the entire fucking pack in Dallas.”

“He wouldn’t care that he went down in her rankings for Dirk,” Heath countered.

“Ah, well. He’s got that love thing fucking going for him, doesn’t he? That would be like Landon or Carey saying they like Jacky more than you. Would you really care?”

“Theydolike Jacky more than me,” Heath said, not seeming bothered by it at all, and this time, I was the one laughing. “And no, I don’t care.”

The conversation drifted away from favorites and rankings to the property.

“Do you think you’ll clean up and use these fields for anything one day?” Heath pointed at the fields we could see, the ones that surrounded Fenris’s driveway.

“Nah, I like it this way. Wish I had more trees, though. Might try to scrounge up the money for that.”

“Scrounge? Callahan set up a trust for you centuries ago. You have money.”

“Yeah, but I haven’t looked at it since I bought this place. I was pretty fucking amazed he hadn’t revoked access yet. He might have taken it from me now.”

“He doesn’t have the legal power to do it, but where there’s a will….” Heath sighed heavily. “It would be an awful thing for him to do to you.”

“I don’t care. Rich or poor, I never gave a damn.” Fenris shrugged, then swiftly changed the topic from his financial situation. “So, I’m keeping it like this.”

“It might make the neighbors talk,” Heath said in a gentle way that told me he needed to mention it, but he understood Fenris’s direction and didn’t really want him to change it.

“I want it a little wild, Heath. It’s nice when the full moon comes up, and I get to Change in the tall grass then run to the pack. The wildlife is coming back to my fields. I see deer in the mornings. The wilder I let it get, the more I see. I couldn’t find a nice little cabin in the woods that you thought was livable enough, so I’m doing this. I’m really fucking happy to be out of the big city.”

“The rest of the working farmers around you might not appreciate the local wildlife,” Heath said, a deep frown beginning to form. “Maybe clean up half of it but let one area go back to the wild.”

“I think it’s fine, but maybe fence off a piece of the closest field and trim it down. Start a garden. It’s something for you to do,” I said. “You sit around here all the time because you don’t have a job. Get a hobby. Sell stuff at the farmer’s market and make some money if that’s a problem.”

“A garden?” Fenris laughed harder than I had ever seen, and when it finally died down, he was wiping his eyes. “You are something else. A fucking garden.”

“Do it,” Heath ordered, but it lacked the power he’d used with Landon earlier. “Try it, Fenris. Do something. I don’t like the idea of you stewing here, and the only thing you do is go with Teagan when he can take you. He’s trying to get other werewolves some time away from the territory, but not all of them can go with you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Fenris said with a roll of his eyes. “I’ll do it. Just you two, don’t tell anyone about it, though.”

“Don’t Arlo and Benjamin come over to help out around here? Won’t they see it?” I was curious as to how he would hide it from the teenagers who lived within walking distance.

“They’re not stupid enough to give me shit over it. Teagan and I would just put them to work. Actually, that’s a good idea. Instead of just… mowing the yard or whatever. Gardening would take more time and care….”

“Aw, look at you, thinking of the boys.” Smiling, I sipped the extremely sweet lemonade with more sugar than lemon.

“Aw, look at you thinking about us werewolves,” he fired back with a toothy grin. “Everyone’s favorite werecat, you are. There’s no competition.”

“I wouldn’t say everyone’s,” I said, clearing my throat as Niko’s face flashed through my mind, followed by dozens of others, many of whom either tried to kill me or made it clear they would if they ever found the chance.

“Everyone who doesn’t like you is fucking stupid,” Fenris said, shaking his head. “A lot of bad shit in this world, but you aren’t part of it. You get in the way of everyone else being shitty. A rebel. No…” Fenris seemed to ponder. “More like a revolutionary. Rebels don’t have causes and all that. You do. Plus, you’re sleeping with a real revolutionary if I remember my American history.”

“You’re correct, but I hate how you somehow connected all that.” Heath didn’t seem angry, though. More bemused, as though he enjoyed just sitting here and listening to how Fenris’s mind worked.

I was in the same boat, seeing the connections Fenris made, hating how he phrased it, but it was funny, too.

“Well, this has been fun, but if you’re making rounds, you don’t need to sit here with me all afternoon,” Fenris suddenly declared. “Hey, if I start this garden, you two have to buy what I grow. Make me that deal. Help me fucking make waves at the farmer’s market.” He snorted at the end as he smiled.

I was struggling to keep from laughing as a grin spread over my face. The image of Fenris trying to sell anything to normal people, humans just going about their day, was insanity I was more than willing to be a part of.

“You will have to come over to dinner and behave during it,” Heath said, clearly beginning a bargain to get Fenris for more proper socialization. “So, we can best review your wares and provide feedback, of course.”

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